William Cornwallis

William Cornwallis (10 February 1744-5 July 1819) was an admiral in the Royal Navy of Great Britain and younger brother of Charles Cornwallis.

Biography
In 1755, at the age of eleven, Cornwallis served aboard HMS Newark and later served on HMS Kingston during the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 during the French and Indian War. In 1759 he returned to Britain with the ship and took part in the American Revolutionary War with his brother Charles Cornwallis. His defeat at the Battle of Grenada in 1779 was redeemed by a victory at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782 and in September 1783 he again returned home. In 1788 he was made the commander-in-chief of the East Indies Station.

In 1791, during the Third Anglo-Mysore War, he pounded French merchant vessels who were at war with Britain due to the concurrent French Revolutionary Wars, and won at the Battle of Tellicherry. In 1796 he was made a Rear-Admiral and made Vice-Admiral in 1814.